Hm, thought I logged this one already. Guess not! I love genmaicha, I love chai, and I love the one genmaicha chai mix I’ve tried (Yogic’s with lemongrass) so I was pretty sure from the moment this was announced that it would be a winner for me.

Simmering on the stovetop, this makes my whole kitchen smell amazing. It’s a particularly fragrant chai blend, with tons of chunky spices in the mix. With the toasty aspect of the genmaicha, it smells like I am making chai-flavored rice krispie bars! Which of course now I am dying to do.

The spices in this are a bit unique. I mean, yeah, they’re standard enough but the ratios make this blend stand apart. It’s pretty heavy on the cardamom, ginger and clove while the cinnamon is only a hint in the background. I don’t like very cinnamon-y chais and I adore cardamom so this is right up my alley!

With the genmaicha base I decided to go sugarless, even though I almost always add honey/agave/etc to chais made on the stovetop. Genmaicha + sugar is just not a thing that works in my head, so this ended up being almost savory! Well, I guess as savory as a chai can be. It seems much lighter than other chais because of the green base, this is definitely a winner!

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Tea has always been a passion of mine, though I got away from it during college. A lack of cupboard space and a constant influx of people into my suite made me pretty much abandon my teas at home. But now that I’m done with school, it’s definitely come back with a vengeance—to the point where I’ve purchased about 65 different kinds in the past 3 months!

I like most kinds of teas—yes, even peach, which I used to think I disliked!. Oolongs are definitely my favorite, and I’m an avid fan of earl grey, floral teas, and chai blends along with anything melon. The only kind of teas on my “no” list are rooibos blends (which gives me headaches) and banana flavored ones since bananas are public enemy #1 in my mind.

The best thing about tea for me is how you can be passionate about it and still have it integrate into all of your other hobbies. I like a lot of things: writing, video games, books, sewing, figure collecting, astronomy… it’s a long list. But whatever I’m doing, I can have a cup of tea in hand!